She had been grabbed by a group of angry strangers, accusing her of being a mistress. The crowd around her jeered, their judgmental whispers cutting like knives. No one listened to her frantic protests that she didn’t even know these people. No one stepped in to help.
Then, like a figure descending from the heavens, Christopher had intervened.
He pulled Evelyn out of the mob, his deep, calm voice cutting through the chaos like a balm. His words were firm, authoritative and laced with an unshakable confidence, “I’m her husband. Who are you? Let go of her, or I’ll call the police.”
Just like that, he had saved her.
As the mob dispersed, Evelyn shoved herself away from him, her pride as bruised as her arms. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the only money she had left—a single crumpled hundred-dollar bill—and thrust it toward him. Her distrust of people dripped from every syllable.
“Thanks for saving me. This is all I’ve got. Is it enough? If not, I’ll find a job and pay the rest later.”
Christopher had looked at the wrinkled bill, his lips quirking into an amused smirk. He should’ve walked away, but instead, he lingered, something about her defiance intriguing him.
“Well,” he said, “as it happens, my company’s looking for a clerk. Interested?”
Evelyn frowned suspiciously, snatching the bill back. “You’re not part of some scam, are you? Pretend to save me, then trick me into something worse?”
Christopher blinked, momentarily stunned. “...You’re unbelievable.”
In the end, with nowhere else to go, Evelyn followed him.
What began as an arrangement of necessity gradually blossomed into something deeper.
At first, Christopher admired her tenacity. Maybe it was because she was so different from the women in his world—particularly Charlotte. Evelyn’s fiery independence and unpolished honesty were a stark contrast to Charlotte’s delicate, polished demeanor.
For three years, their relationship was blissful. They were inseparable and for the first time in her life, Evelyn felt like the world wasn’t entirely against her.
But then Charlotte returned.
Fresh from her studies abroad, Charlotte re-entered Christopher’s life with all the subtlety of a hurricane. Her presence disrupted the fragile balance Evelyn and Christopher had built.
It was around this time that Christopher’s feelings began to shift.